Skip to content

Kalta Minor

A broad, unfinished minaret covered from base to top in turquoise and blue glazed tiles, standing near the West Gate of Itchan Kala.

EnsemblesUNESCO World Heritage1850s, unfinishedAbout 20 minutes to see

About the place

Muhammad Amin Khan began this minaret in the 1850s beside his new madrasa, apparently intending it to be far taller than any other in Central Asia. Work stopped after the khan died in battle, and the tower was left as a wide, truncated cylinder. Its name means "short minaret".

What makes it stand out is the surface: bands of glazed brick and tile in turquoise, blue, white and green cover it completely, with lines of inscription between them. It is the most photographed landmark in Khiva and visible from much of the old town.

The minaret cannot be climbed. For a view of it from above, go up the watchtower of Kunya-Ark across the square.

Sources (1)

  1. 1.Wikidata

Nearby

  • Matniyaz Divanbegi MadrasaEnsembles

    Under 1 km away

    Matniyaz Divanbegi Madrasa

    A one-storey madrasa of 1871 in Khiva's Itchan Kala, built by the khan's finance minister and facing the Muhammad Amin Khan madrasa; now a restaurant.

  • Muhammad Amin Khan MadrasaEnsembles

    Under 1 km awayUNESCO World Heritage

    Muhammad Amin Khan Madrasa

    The largest madrasa in Khiva, built in the 1850s next to Kalta Minor, with a tiled portal and two storeys of cells around a wide courtyard.

  • Sayid Allauddin MausoleumMausoleums

    Under 1 km awayUNESCO World Heritage

    Sayid Allauddin Mausoleum

    One of the oldest buildings in Khiva's Itchan Kala: the fourteenth-century domed tomb of the Sufi sheikh Sayid Allauddin, with a rare glazed majolica gravestone.

  • Kunya-ArkFortresses

    Under 1 km awayUNESCO World Heritage

    Kunya-Ark

    The khans' citadel inside Itchan Kala, with a tiled summer mosque, a reception hall, a former mint and a watchtower over the old town.